Sticky Shadows for Tool Organization

by DIY for Homeowners in Workshop > Organizing

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Sticky Shadows for Tool Organization

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We have Wall Control metal pegboard in both of our garages. Steph wanted a bit more organization on her Wall Control setup and decided to use vinyl to make tool cutouts to create a "shadow board." The idea is to add the cutouts to the wall so you can easily return a tool to its proper place.

Most instructions call for tracing around a tool on a piece of vinyl and then cutting it out with scissors, but you know, no one has time for that nonsense!

She designed a way to make the process a little more seamless using a Cricut Maker to cut the vinyl and her iPhone to create the "shadows" templates.

Supplies

Head to our website for direct links to these products:

TOOLS SILHOUETTE SHADOW BOARD TAPE ROLL (Wall Control)

Cricut Maker

Cricut Lightgrip Cutting Mat 12x24

Canva.com

Watch the Video

How to Make a Vinyl Tool Shadow Board with Cricut Maker

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Create Tool Shadows and Cut

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Her process started by taking a picture of a tool that had been placed on an uncluttered, plain background. The picture is then AirDropped to her computer for further manipulation.

The image can be manipulated in many different photo editing programs, but Steph thinks Canva.com is really superior when it comes to removing the background from an image.

Once the background from the image has been removed, the image is dropped into the Cricut design space software to set up for cutting.

This is the white vinyl from Wall Control. It comes with handy cut lines on the back. Steph is using the 24-inch sticky mat from Cricut. The mat keeps the vinyl from shifting while the machine cuts.

Steph tried out both the white and black versions of the Wall Control vinyl using the Cricut Maker.

In the Cricut software, Steph set up the specifics needed to cut the vinyl. The standard "vinyl" setting worked to cut the Wall Control vinyl.

Once everything is set up, push a button and the Cricut does all the work!

Add Shadows to Board

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Before adding shadows to the Wall Control panels, make sure you've organized your tools where you want them. It's not hard to move the vinyl, but it does take a bit of work.

Time to add the shadow stickers to the wall. For most of the stickers, Steph needed to move the Wall Control hooks. Once the sticker was in place, she simply added back the hooks along with the tools.

With the stickers in place, it's easy to find where a tool needs to be stored.

Two different colors of vinyl mean more than one tool goes in this space like these hammers and mallets.

A Place for Everything!

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You can now tell at a glance where things are to be returned or when something is missing.

This setup is especially useful if you share a garage with someone who doesn't put back things properly!

For more detail, please visit our website!